By Frank Merlo

The 21st Century is absolutely amazing in terms of the power of the technology that is available to most of the world. In fact, most will agree that the world has become a much smaller place because of it.

There is both a responsibility and an opportunity that comes with the access to so much information. The responsibility is to seek the truth, and the opportunity is to become better educated so that we can make informed decisions in our lives. Typically, the MEDIA today is extremely biased so the challenge is to find a balance of information to work with. I believe that “Hot Topics” are CREATED to take more control and sway the masses for the “FAD” or the political need of the moment.

I urge you to take this brief test. As a parent, do you think you can allocate the Word List below into two columns under the headings provided? Then ask your children to do the same. The answers are provided at the end of the information in this Tab. First, compare your answers to the answers provided. Then compare your answers to those provided by your children. I predict you will find this to be an enlightening experience.

WORD LIST

Libertarians

Big Government

Liberal

Free Market Competition

Socialist

Limited Welfare Programs

Democrats

Republicans

Pro-Abortion

Conservative

Central Planners

Individual Freedom

Economic Competition

Pro-Choice

Capitalism

Independents

Welfare for All

Elites

Anti-Religion

Rent & Price Controls

Religious Rights

Free Markets

POLITICAL LEFT

POLITICAL RIGHT

After military service in Vietnam, I attended the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and to this day, remain eternally grateful to the history professor who asked the class of students to complete the above exercise. It put a whole new perspective on words which I had been glibly using up to that point in my young life. Born into a family of Democrats, I now felt empowered to take a closer look at what that really meant in my life.

If you are not monitoring what your children are being taught in school today – at every level – I cannot stress enough that it is critical that you take notice, now. And always remember the words of Mark Twain when he wrote:

“If you don’t read the newspapers, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspapers, you’re misinformed.”

[Excerpt: P. 66 of The Robin Hood Lies]

[Chapter 5: Tisha Finds the Republican Party]

Beginning in the first grade, we are taught to share but not to succeed, to embrace failure, that failing is OK as long as you tried, and to be fearful of successful people. I am sure you have heard about the New Age teachers who want to give only a pass or fail and not a grade. This is educational egalitarianism. Economic egalitarianism is defined as a state of economic system in which equality of outcome has been manufactured for all the citizens of a society. In every instance where it has been tried, it has failed. So why do these teachers still want our children to be anything but competitive? So what if they compete and the less competent do not feel good about getting a well-deserved “C.” We need competition so that all may learn to understand the true value of “C is for Capitalism.” Competition is the stimulant for a motivated future work force. The lack of motivation, caused by a lack of stimulation by good, old-fashioned school competition, leads to an increase in unemployment and higher rate of welfare. The current “Occupy Wherever” crowds are the epitome of mediocrity resulting from the current expensive public education system which has taught them not to compete in what is definitely a competitive world. This sounds like a recipe for failure to me. Now they are left on the doorsteps of corporate America with inadequate survival skills. They are entering adulthood with about one million dollars of national debt – each - with a “do not compete” clause around their necks. Maybe they know that no matter how hard they try, they will never be able to succeed, that they were bankrupt before they left the womb! Beware the legacy we are leaving for the next generations!

What about the kids who want to do their best, knowing they could work harder and obtain a well-deserved “A?” Removing competition as early as kindergarten is the beginning of the ‘dumbing down’ of American Exceptionalism. This is the beginning of Big Government taking charge of our lives from cradle to grave. If everyone is compelled to mediocrity, big government can step in and be the benevolent dictator who fairly shares, and equally doles out, a smaller bounty. When government is intrusive, and the central planners create roadblocks in the name of helping the little man, taking from the producers and giving to the non-producers, jobs are lost, economies are destroyed, lives corrupted, and the very people they pledge to help are always hurt the most. When government is small, and people are free, both can do great things: create jobs, invent new ideas and produce more than they need which leaves products and services to sell to others. They can feed the world, and become wealthy. Innovations grow in a logarithmic quotient.